According to leaked Intel roadmaps, the company’s NUCs (Next Unit of Computing) will be refreshed with Broadwell processors, as early as the fourth quarter of this year. The roadmap also indicates the upcoming ‘Forest Canyon’ Intel NUC will feature the Intel ‘Bay Trail’ Celeron processor. This move deviates from the norm as the previous iterations of the Intel NUC have featured low-power Intel Core ‘Ivy Bridge’ and ‘Haswell’ processors.

The Broadwell-based NUCs may be launched as early as Q4 this year, under the ‘Maple Canyon’ family. They will feature Intel Core i3 or i5 processors, and they will support Ultra HD 4K displays as well as triple display configurations, via a mini DisplayPort port.

In terms of internal storage, the Rock Canyon NUC will support M.2 and 2.5-inch drives. It also has USB 3.0 ports for supported external devices. The wireless connectivity will be built-in; hence, you don’t have to source for a Mini-PCIe wireless card. The kit comes with replaceable lids that support NFC and wireless charging.

There are also commercial NUCs, and the roadmap indicates the ‘Thin Canyon’ NUCs, which are based on the Intel ‘Bay Trail’ Atom processors, will be launched this quarter. They are cooled passively, and are ideal for embedded solutions like digital signs and kiosks.

As for the Broadwell-based commercial NUCs, they are also slated for launch at the fourth quarter of this year, under the ‘Maple Canyon’ family. They appear to be similar to their consumer counterparts for storage and video connectivity options. The ‘Maple Canyon’ NUCs support Intel vPro and TPM technologies for security and ease of remote management purposes. For more information from the leaked roadmaps, please click here.